The power button LED located on the front of the chassis also functions as a bicolored diagnostic LED. The diagnostic LED is only active and visible during the POST process. Once the operating system starts to load, it is no longer visible.
Amber LED blinking scheme – The pattern is 2 or 3 blinks followed by a short pause then x number of blinks up to 7. The repeated pattern has a long pause inserted in the middle. For example 2,3 = 2 amber blinks, short pause, 3 amber blinks followed by long pause then repeats.
Table 1. Power LED Diagnostics
AMBER LED STATE
WHITE LED STATE
DESCRIPTION
off
off
system is OFF
off
breathing
system is in sleep state
blinking
off
power supply unit (PSU) failure
steady
off
PSU is working but failed to fetch code
off
steady
system is ON
Amber LED State
Description
2,1
system board failure
2,2
system board, PSU or PSU cabling failure
2,3
system board, memory or CPU failure
2, 4
coin-cell battery failure
2,5
corrupt BIOS
2,6
CPU configuration failure or CPU failure
2,7
memory modules are detected, but a memory failure
3,1
possible peripheral card or system board failure
3,2
possible USB failure
3,3
no memory modules are detected
3,4
possible system board error
3,5
memory modules are detected, but a memory configuration or compatibility error
3,6
possible system board resource and/or hardware failure
filbert
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Posted June 4th, 2023 09:00
In case it is in a standby state that won't wake, press and hold the power button until it powers off. Otherwise:
The pattern of blinking is significant. Identify the pattern and check the reference here to see what error it indicates.
Dell OptiPlex 3020–Mini Tower Owner's Manual > Troubleshooting Your Computer > Power LED Diagnostics
Power LED Diagnostics
Amber LED blinking scheme – The pattern is 2 or 3 blinks followed by a short pause then x number of blinks up to 7. The repeated pattern has a long pause inserted in the middle. For example 2,3 = 2 amber blinks, short pause, 3 amber blinks followed by long pause then repeats.